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Sunday, September 18, 2016

For the Love of Food Trucks

This Saturday was a busy one at Easter Seals NL! In the morning, they hosted a Family Fun Open House as an opportunity to promote their programs and services for persons with disabilities. The open house was followed by a Pop Up Food Festival, which featured some of the best food trucks that St. John's has to offer!

Proceeds from the food festival go towards supporting Easter Seals' many programs and services for persons with disabilities right here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Oh my goodness, you guys! I didn't realize that St. John's had so many awesome mobile food vendors! Food trucks are super popular in bigger cities around the country, and many people frequent food trucks regularly, but here in Newfoundland I could only think of a couple that I knew of off-hand. The first, and probably the original food truck here in St. John's being Ziggy Peelgood's! Everyone knows Ziggy's has been on the go for over 25 years, providing THE BEST french fries from a number of locations around the city. Then there was Long Dick's Sausage Emporium, and that fiasco a couple of years ago with them not being allowed to park outside of City Hall. There's been a few new ones recently, like Hitchen the Kitchen, from the owners of Blue on Water, who serve tacos and burgers and pulled pork mac & cheese from their food truck on Elizabeth Avenue. And Happy Camper International Eats, which offers healthy options like noodle and curry bowls, jerk chicken paninis and Korean BBQ.

I was excited to see some new food trucks and pop-ups at this event, and also thrilled to see such a crowd come out to support our local vendors and Easter Seals!

We are a generation of foodies, and food trucks offer a great way to try
new types of foods along with a novel dining experience. They provide
fast, convenient - and most of all unique meals on the go. There's something so fun about walking up to a truck, placing your order, and sitting at a picnic table or park bench to eat your lunch outside. It's just exciting to eat food that comes from a truck! And food trucks are all about community. They are a great place for people to socialize, as they are typically located in high-volume areas, and you get to talk directly to the person who is making your food, which is nice.

There were many pop-up food vendors set up inside Easter Seals House as well, so we met up with friends and found a table where we could enjoy our snacks and watch the crowds.

OMG, these fresh homemade doughnuts from Sadie Leighs were to die for!

Andrew and my Mom and I tried sandwiches from Oh My Cheeses, and though the lineup was long, they were worth the wait! Mom had the Caprese Sammy, with tomato, mozza and local basil. Andrew had honeyed pear with brie and basil, and I had the French Onion Soup Sammy, with caramelized onion, mozza and swiss. They were all SO GOOD!!

They make dough cones filled with amazing handmade pizza sauce and a variety of different toppings. Yum!

I am constantly amazed by all of the incredible concepts that food truck owners are coming up with! There is so much creativity and ingenuity in this industry, and I am excited to see how it will grow here in the future. This event was a tremendous success for Easter Seals, and they are already planning for the next one.

"In the end, every bit of food you ate helped support programs and
services for persons with disabilities- and that was pretty nice of you."